


Gilmore (Danes!) Girls

by iamdonnapaulsen



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/F, F/M, Family, Gen, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Fix-It, Not Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Compliant, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamdonnapaulsen/pseuds/iamdonnapaulsen
Summary: After the events of the series finale, Lorelai and Luke got married and had a daughter - now a 14 years old teenager.The story follows the daily events in the life of the Gilmore-Danes family, starting with Elle's first kiss.
Relationships: April Nardini/Original Character(s), Jackson Belleville/Sookie St. James, Lorelai Gilmore & Rory Gilmore, Lorelai Gilmore/Sookie St. James, Luke Danes & Rory Gilmore, Luke Danes/April Nardini, Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore/Other(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

When Elle arrives home, a little after 11 pm, she sits on the bench on the porch and picks up her cellphone. She quickly finds the group named “Sisters” and types up.

> [05/09 11:06] Elle Gilmore-Danes: u guys there?
> 
> [05/09 11:06] April Nardini-Danes: I’m here.
> 
> [05/09 11:08] Rory Gilmore: Me too.
> 
> [05/09 11:09] Elle Gilmore-Danes: MAJOR CRISIS HERE
> 
> [05/09 11:09] Elle Gilmore-Danes: sisters’ reunion video-chat NOW!!!
> 
> [05/09 11:10] April Nardini-Danes: something happened at home? U ok? Dad and Lorelai are ok? Paul Anka?
> 
> [05/09 11:11] Elle Gilmore-Danes: everyone’s ok, everything’s great at home.
> 
> [05/09 11:11] Elle Gilmore-Danes: I just need to tell something

Less than one minute later, she hears the sound of the video-chat call. Elle presses the ‘accept’ button, and her cellphone screen is filled with the images of both of her sisters.

“What happened?” Rory asks anxiously.

“I think I’m dating James,” Elle answers.

“What? How? Where?” Rory’s shock is perceptible in her voice.

“Well, we went to Martha’s surprise birthday party, and it was really nice. We had a really good time. We laughed a lot, we ate, and we danced.”

“Danced how?” asks Rory.

“Together?!” Elle answers, a bit confused.

“It was a fast dance, slow dance, group dance?” Rory queries.

“What’s a group dance?”

“The hustle,” April explains.

“The hora,” Rory completes.

“No, it was a slow dance. Anyways, we spent the evening together, we danced, he walked me home, then we kissed.”

“James kissed you?” April inquires, surprised.

“James kissed me,” Elle confirms, her voice with an intonation that makes Rory remember a conversation she had with her mother many years before.

“Look how you just said ‘James kissed me!’”, exclaims April.

“What? I’m just saying I’m surprised he kissed me.”

“That sounded more like ‘I’m surprised he’s not my boyfriend already!’”, Rory teases her.

“Oh, stop!”

“Was it a good kiss, or a ‘just we’re so bored it happened’ kind of kiss?”

“It was a good kiss… what’s a ‘we’re so bored it happened’ kind of kiss?”

“When it doesn’t mean anything and just happened for no reason…” Rory tells her.

“It meant something. I mean, I think it meant something because earlier there was this moment where I thought… I don’t know.”

“Okay, this is James,” April states.

“I know,” Elle replies.

“Our James. Sookie’s James.”

“I know,” Elle answers in a whisper, pressing her nose bridge for a moment.

“Oh, Dad’s gonna love this! What did Lorelai say?” April’s smile grows as she imagines her father’s reaction to the news.

“I haven’t told Mom yet…”

“Kid, trust me, you don’t wanna miss the chance to tell mom right after it happened.”

“Okay,” Elle confirms. “It _just_ happened, I didn’t even get into the house yet,” she explains.

“Go tell Mom,” Rory encourages her little sister. “And call us if you need anything.”

“Will do. Thanks, sisters. You’re the bests.”

* * *

Elle knocks on the door of her parents’ room and hears Lorelai shouts “enter” from her bathroom. Her dad is out, helping her aunt Liz, but she knows he won’t take much longer; anyhow, she’d really rather tell her mom first.

“Hey,” she says as she sees Lorelai enters the bedroom. Her mom smiles at her.

“Hey, babe. How was the party?”

“I got kissed,” she breaths out the phrase.

“What?!”

“I got kissed,” Elle repeats, her smile increasing.

“Oh my God, who kissed you?” Lorelai asks, sitting on her bed and pulling Elle by the arm to sit beside her.

“James.”

“Start at the beginning, and you leave anything out, you die,” Lorelai tells her youngest daughter, her smile as big as Elle’s.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day is Martha’s birthday, which means a really big breakfast at the table with her whole family and a big party for the family and friends later. Martha knows Lorelai will come to help with the decoration, and pretty much everyone in town will show up. But, for now, it’s just her, Sookie, Jackson, and James, since Davey has moved to Boston to go to college.

“So, how was the party yesterday?” Sookie asks her kids as she pours her famous peach syrup on the pancakes.

“It was great, I really wasn’t expecting,” Martha says. “You are really good to keep a secret, didn’t know you had this on you.”

“I know, it was hard,” Sookie tells her.

“Did you have fun?” Jackson asks his daughter.

“I did. We laughed a lot.”

“And about you, James?”

“Oh, James had _lots_ of fun,” she teases her younger brother. “Right, James?”

James gives his sister a fusillading look and puts another piece of pancake on the mouth without answering.

“What happened?” Sookie asks curiously.

“He wouldn’t leave Elle’s side,” she says smiling and playing with her fork. Sookie deviates her eyes from Martha to James and waits for him to say something, a big smile on her lips.

“We are friends,” he says looking down at his plate.

“There were tons of your friends at the party,” Martha dismisses his explanation with a wave of her hand. “Still, you were together _all the time._ ”

“It wasn’t _all_ the time,” he contests.

“You only danced with Elle,” Martha adds. “You even kissed her.”

James blushes. “How do you know?”

“Oh my God, I was teasing you! You _really_ kissed Elle?”

James blushes harder. Jackson and Sookie smile at their son. “You guys dating?”

“I… we…” James stammers.

“We finally are gonna be part of the same family,” Martha laughs. “For real.”

“Do you think Elle has already told Lorelai?” Sookie asks her kids. Martha shrugs. Sookie laughs and looks at her husband. “She’ll jump for joy.”

“Oh, yes, she will,” Jackson says, and when he sees his boy smiling lightly, he adds, “Luke, on the other hand…”

“Oh, yeah,” Sookie says seriously, also looking at her youngest kid. “He won’t be happy.”

James shrinks on his chair. The three of them laugh, and Jackson tells him, “We are just kidding, boy. He’ll also love the news.”

“Yeah, he will. But I wouldn’t be alone with him if I were you,” Martha added with a smile, adding more syrup on her pancakes.

* * *

Lorelai arrives at Sookie’s house, her hands occupied with handbags full of decoration items for her goddaughter’s birthday. When she sees her best friend, who is already setting the table in the front yard, Lorelai drops the handbags at the same time Sookie runs towards her, their smiles growing together from the moment their eyes meet. They hug while jumping and squealing as if they were the fourteen-years-old.

“The kids,” they say together giggling, just too excited.

“And I thought Rory had a good first boyfriend,” Lorelai adds, rolling her eyes.

“Oh my God, Davey's first girlfriend could never compete...” Sookie jokes and then, with her eyes shining, she adds, “Imagine If they got married...”

“Easy there, Sookie,” Lorelai says as she steps back, but the smile doesn’t leave her face. “Let’s wait for their first-month anniversary before we send save-the-date cards.”

Sookie laughs. “You’re right. I’m just so excited!” She sighs. “Imagine if they have kids? Our grandkids would be _so_ pretty!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go there yet, Sookie. Your future daughter-in-law is the daughter of a girl that got pregnant at 16… I wouldn't say much about grandkids yet.”

Sookie shakes her head while smirking along with Lorelai.

“Nevertheless, I’m really happy about the news,” Sookie affirms to Lorelai. “Elle is a sweet kid… who could have imagined?”

“Well, they have been best friends since… I don’t know, ever?” Lorelai grins. “You know better than anyone how this friends-to-lovers thing can work out.”

“Maybe not better than you,” Sookie teases, and Lorelai laughs. “Okay, we have a party to put together,” she says, leaning to pick the bags which have been forgotten on the floor.

* * *

The party has already begun when the Gilmore-Danes family finally joins in. Martha is the first person they see, and they greet her – they all are really fond of Sookie’s daughter, especially Lorelai, who has an incredible bond with the girl.

Lorelai stays with her goddaughter, and Sookie joins them. Luke walks away from them to pick a beer, and Elle heads towards James’ direction.

Elle and James stare at each other for a while. Neither of them says anything, both of them turning red. Elena puts a strand of her hair behind her ear and gives James a smile.

“Hi,” he says. He leans in to kiss her cheek, but she leans to give him a hug, so they end up doing nothing, both feeling really awkward.

Luke is close to them after picking up his beer and a glass of white wine for Lorelai. He is frowning in reaction to this weird interaction between the kids, and barely notices that Jackson has approached him until Jackson smirks at him and puts his hand on Luke's shoulder “Welcome to the family, man.”

“What?” Luke asks, but before Jackson can explain, the kids break their silence.

“Hi,” Elle chuckles. They stare at each other for a moment, and then Elle looks down at the floor. James looks at her hand for a moment, as if he is trying to find the courage to hold it. One moment later, he does.

Elle feels James’ hand on hers, and looks at their hands entwined before raising her head to look at him. When she does, he has the biggest smile she's ever seen, and she knows she probably has a smile as big as his.

“That's our girl,” Martha tells her mother and godmother, pretending to wipe the tears. “I'm just so proud!”

They all laugh, too excited about this new romance. Martha walks toward Elle and Jackson.

“The newest Stars Hollow couple...” she starts to tease them.

Luke deviates his eyes from the kids and walks fast towards Lorelai.

“Did you just saw that?! She’s with James,” Luke shouts at Lorelai, very angry.

“Oh, you came right on time,” Lorelai tells Luke. “Sookie and I were just talking about Elle and James.”

“And?”

“At least we know we’ll not have to pay a buffet for the wedding…”

“Lorelai?”

“Plus, we can have the party at the inn, and I can make her wedding dress and his suit. We’ll only pay for the flowers, and it will be half for us and half for Sookie and Jackson…”

“Lorelai, I’m serious.”

“So am I. It will be cheap.”

“Our not-even-fifteen-year-old daughter is dating, I can believe you’re okay with this.”

“I’m happy she’s chosen someone we know since forever. We like James, remember? He is such a good kid. Plus, you’re his godfather.”

“We liked him, Lorelai. Liked. In the past,” Luke tells her, and Lorelai just shakes her head, chuckling.

“And their kids will be beautiful,” Sookie adds up, looking at Elle and James, who are far away, talking. She gazes at Luke, his face red; he shakes his head and takes out.

Sookie’s and Lorelai’s eyes meet, and they both laugh.

“It must be hard for him,” Sookie tells Lorelai, once Luke is away. “I remember when Martha first started to date…”

“Yeah, so do I,” Lorelai tells her, raising her eyebrows, the memories of conversations they had about Martha’s first boyfriend on her mind. “But he’ll come around to it… eventually.”

“I hope so,” Sookie smiles at her best friend. They look at Elle and James on the other side of the garden, they both are laughing about something. “They are a match made in heaven.”

“Or in the hollow.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lorelai picks up her cellphone and dials Rory's number. She shifts her weight from one foot to another while she waits for her oldest daughter to answer.

“Hey, Mom,” Rory's voice on the other side of the line is a little groggy as if she was still asleep. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah… I just called because I’ve realized we haven’t talked in a while.”

“Mom, it’s 7:15 am. Of a Monday. And we talked on Saturday.”

“So?”

“So… what do you want to talk about?” Rory says, defeated.

“I don’t know… do you have any news to tell me?”

“News? No, I don’t. And about you?”

“Are you sure you don’t have anything to tell me? Nothing really happened?”

“Besides this very confusing conversation, no. And about you?”

“On Saturday, we watched a movie named _Hidden Kisses_ , have you watched it yet?” she asks, stretching the words kisses. Lorelai hears Rory sighs and chuckles.

“I guess you already know who got kissed…”

“She told you first, didn’t she?!”

“Maybe…”

“That little Judas!”

“She likes me better… Just like Paul Anka!” Rory teases her mom.

“Paul Anka does not like you better, and you were not the one who went through sixteen hours of labor with that little Judas, so she has to like me better.”

“So… James, huh?!” Rory decides to change the subject.

“Yeah… I’m not quite sure I was expecting that… were you?”

“Not sure… I thought… _maybe_ it would happen, one day, I guess. Definitely not that soon… I don’t know, I think they’re in love. I didn’t expect that either…”

“She’s growing up,” Lorelai remembers Rory, who hears in her voice a mixture of pride and worry. “James is a good kid. I’m glad it’s with him.”

“I feel old with this whole Elle being kissed thing,” Rory confesses. “Didn’t you have her like… yesterday?!”

“And you really should… You’re so old that times changed. Girls don’t say thank you after being kissed anymore, did you know?”

“Oh, look, I have to go. Bye, mom…”

“They just don't make girls like this anymore... It's sad!” Lorelai continues to tease her.

“Well, she _really_ is your daughter,” Rory says. “What about Luke?”

“Oh, he's dealing very well with this... He and James are French-braiding each-others’ hairs right now.”

“That great, huh? Is James still alive?”

“I think he has a good chance of survival.”

“I hope so. Mom, I’m sorry, I gotta go now, but tell me if anything happens and tell Luke I said hi. Bye, mom!”

“Bye, kid!”

* * *

The next day, Elle had an event at Chilton, which meant she’d arrive home later than usual. Luke’s at the kitchen preparing his and Lorelai’s dinner when he hears a knock on the window of Elle’s bedroom. When Luke opens up the curtain, he sees James standing there. The boy sort of freezes when he sees Luke staring at him. Luke opens the window.

“Well, hi there. How you doing?” Luke smirks at James.

“Fine.”

“Good. Good. Shouldn’t you have a squeegee with you or something?”

“I was…”

“Looking for my daughter? She’s not here. I’ll tell her you taped.”

“Thanks,” James says but doesn’t move.

“Something else?”

“Hmm… You and aunt Lorelai… and Rory, and April… You’ve always been like family to me. And I don’t know… It’s weird now, isn’t it? I mean, you’re my godfather… it’s just…” He breathes out loudly. “Please, tell me where I stand here.”

“I don’t know where you stand, okay. All I know it’s that my fourteen years old daughter has a boyfriend.”

James realizes Luke’s used the b-word, even though he and Elle hadn’t really discussed this yet. He makes a mental note about it and tells Luke, “You hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“No?”

“No. Though I did imagine at least 20 different ways to remove your head from your body.”

“Really? Which one looked the best?”

“Hedge clippers. Dull ones.”

“You wouldn’t want it to go quick, would you?”

“Exactly.” James nods and swings to leave, but turns back when he hears Luke calling him. “James? You know, we have a really nice front door. You might want to use it next time.”

“Got it,” James gives Luke a quick smile and goes away. Luke closes the window and the curtain and, when he turns to go back to the kitchen, he finds Lorelai leaning on the threshold, smiling at him.

“You’ve been living with me for too long,” she tells Luke, who laughs and shakes his head.

“At least we know he is a good kid… right?” he asks for her reassurance, and Lorelai nods and takes his hands on hers.

“Right,” she confirms and inclines to kiss him on the lips. “You’ll get used to it eventually, doll.”

“I hope so,” he sighs.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke’s cellphone rings. He looks at it and he sees April’s face on the screen. He picks it up and walks towards the warehouse.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hey, Dad. I don’t have much time, I’m in the middle of a…” Luke hears April’s voice fade away a bit as she’s talking with her mouth away from the phone, “ _not_ in there, don’t you see the sign?”

She sighs, and her voice goes back to normal. “I’m sorry. Anyway, I was thinking about visiting you tomorrow, is that okay? I mean, I know tomorrow is Friday, which means Elle will have dinner at her grandma’s with Lorelai, so I thought we could do a father-daughter hangout session?”

“Sure, it’ll be a pleasure. Will you stay for the weekend?”

“I guess I could stay until Sunday.”

“Do that. Your sister misses you.” He pauses for a second. “And so do I.”

“Miss you too, Dad. Listen, I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

“See you, April,” Luke answers, smiling.

* * *

As soon as Lorelai gets Emily to hang up the phone, she calls Luke. He had sent her a message saying April was coming for the weekend, and when her mother told her they wouldn’t be able to have their weekly dinner the next evening because of the charity event that had been moved to that Friday, her first thought was to do a family night.

“Luke’s,” she hears her husband’s voice and a gazillion other noises in the background. It’s almost lunch, so she knows the place is packed.

“Hey doll, can we talk?”

“Is everything okay?” she hears the concern in his voice and smiles.

“Everything is fine, I just want to run something past you.”

“Shoot.”

“Mom just canceled tomorrow’s dinner. She and Dad are going to some charity event. Considering that April’s coming, and I think we haven’t reunited the family since Christmas, I thought we all could have dinner at Sniffy’s Tavern?”

“That sounds great.”

“You think April will like it? Maybe she wanted to just spend time with you?”

“She’ll love it, Lorelai. She loves you and Rory and Elle.”

“Oh, I know _that_ ,” he can hear the smile on her voice. “But maybe she wants a father-daughter day?”

“Look, I’m pretty sure she’ll love it. Although, if it makes you happy, I’ll talk to her and get back to you.”

“It does. Okay, I’ll wait. Bye, honey. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

A while later, Lorelai hears her cellphone beep. It’s a message from Luke, which says, “She’s in.”

Lorelai quickly dials Rory’s number. The phone rings four times before her oldest daughter picks it up.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Uh-oh. You have your study-voice on.”

“I’m not studying.”

“You didn’t let me finish. I mean your former study-voice, that has now been converted to your working-on-something-very-important-voice.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re not paying attention,” Lorelai complains.

“Sorry, Mom. Shorter staff, deadline.”

“Five minutes?”

“Go.”

“Stop typing.”

“I’m not typing.”

“I can hear from here.”

Lorelai hears Rory sighs from the other side of the line as she clicks the button to save her work. “Okay.”

“Have you talked to Grandma?”

“She called like half one hour ago, angry about the event that got moved away to tomorrow night and canceling our Friday night dinner. Why?”

“She called me about that. We are now free tomorrow night, and April’s coming for the weekend, so I thought you could come to Stars Hollow instead. We can have a family night, what do you say?”

“Sure, it works for me. Are you planning anything special?”

“I thought about going to Prancing Pony,” Lorelai giggles, and Rory smiles. The tavern in which Lorelai and Luke had their first date has been one of their favorite places to spend time in the last fifteen years. Of course, the place’s name is Sniffy’s Tavern, but Lorelai always called it the Prancing Pony.

“Sounds like a plan. Mom, I have to go. Talk to you later?”

“Talk to you later. Bye, kid.”

* * *

Everyone uses to say that while Rory got Lorelai's name, Elle got her personality. Ever since she was born, she was just the perfect mini Lorelai, but she had a very "not Gilmore" trait, though. Elle was amazing at cooking anything, and she’s always loved to cook. Every time she was stressed, she would bake cookies or make her own bread or even pie. Sometimes, she would do it at home; but most times, she would do it at Luke's —which was also home, anyway.

"The pies are ready, and the place is basically empty, so I'm gonna take a break, ok?", the teenager says, and Caesar just nods.

He always thought it was kinda crazy how much April liked to hang at the diner, and do stuff there when she was younger. However, as Elle started to grow up, he realized what crazy really was. She likes to work at the diner almost as most as her dad does. Today she came pretty early and said her math teacher was sick, so she wanted to use her free time baking pies. He didn't mind at all having her there, while Luke was out getting supplies in another town.

* * *

Minutes after Elle had talked to James on the phone, he was there. She quickly came from the balcony to his table.

"Welcome to Luke's! How can I help you, sir?", she jokes, and James burst into a laugh. She's wearing one of Luke's flannels —which looks kinda big for her—, shorts, and she even has put one of his caps backwards.

They still didn't have any conversations about the g and b words, but they were great. She leans in to kiss him but he frowns, "This is too creepy for me..." he points at her look, and she smirks along.

"Right... So what do you want today?"

"Coffee, coffee, coffee," James shouts excitedly, and it's Elle's time to frown.

"Now this is too creepy for me..."

"Well... If you're uncle Luke, I'm aunt Lorelai", he tells as if it's obvious, and her smile grows bigger.

"You are, huh?!" she asks playfully, and he turns red and tries to take it somehow. "You know... Just for the sake of the joke."

"Right..." she smirks as nodding and then goes to the balcony to get coffee for them.

Elle comes back with two big mugs and two full coffee pots. One of the mugs goes to James’ side, and the other to hers. She places each pot next to one mug and doesn't even realize her friend’s shocked expression.

"What?" she asks.

"You know not everyone drinks coffee like a Gilmore girl, right?!" he asks back.


	5. Chapter 5

When Lorelai gets out of the car, she hears the voice of the little boy yelling, “Grandma! Grandma!” followed by Rory’s voice yelling, “Charlie! Don’t run!”

She hears the footsteps of both of them at the same time the two-year-old toddler appears, his arms wide open as he runs towards his grandmother. Lorelai squats so she is the same size as him, her opened arms waiting for him to hug her.

“Oh my God, you’re so big,” she says as she covers him with kisses. The boy giggles. Luke also squat by Lorelai’s side, and Charlie disengages from Lorelai to run to him, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”

“Hey there, big boy!” Luke greets him. Rory’s kid always called him ‘grandpa Luke.’

“Hey, babe,” Lorelai says to Rory, standing up to kiss her daughter. They turn to Charlie, who’s now yelling, “Aunt Elle! Aunt April!” and giggle.

Once they all have greeted each other, they enter the tavern and head directly to their usual table, which has a ‘reserved’ sign on it. The baby chair for Charlie is already there, but he doesn’t want to leave April’s arms, so the girl puts him on her lap, and Rory gives him a pencil and paper for him to draw.

“So, how are things back at home?” Rory asks her little sister.

“Things are going fine,” Elle answers smiling.

“And how are things with James?” April inquires. She sees Luke getting red on the cheeks.

Maisy comes by the table at that time, “What do I do with you all, always just sitting yourselves!” she exclaims, and Luke stands up to give her a hug. Elle also stands up to hug her.

“Where’s Buddy?” Elle asks once they get apart. Maisy and Buddy have always been some sort of grandparents’ figure in her life. Since she was a little girl, she’d go to the tavern with Luke as often as she could, to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner; also, they’d go there as a family regularly.

Buddy appears too, and they all greet him as well. “Where’s that husband of yours?” he asks Rory.

“He couldn’t come. Fridays and Saturdays are the worst for him because of how busy Broadway gets,” Rory answers. “That new play has been a big hit, rumor has it he’ll be nominated for the Tony Award for Best Director of a Play,” she says proudly.

“Wow, that sounds amazing, honey,” Lorelai tells Rory.

“It really does, say congratulations to him,” Buddy says to Rory. “And about you, little one?” he asks Charlie, giving the boy a big hug, but Charlie is focused on his drawing.

“Say hi to Buddy and Maisy, son,” Rory asks, and the little boy gives him a smile and says hi, but gets back to his activity right after. 

The waitress passes by, and Maisy calls her. “Lori, bring them some sparkling water and champagne. And a soda for the kids.”

“And a beer,” Luke asks.

“You’re on a date, you drink champagne,” Maisy argues.

“It’s not a date,” Luke contests.

“It’s a family dinner, so, potato, potahto. At a ball game, you drink beer.”

They all know there’s no point in arguing with Maisy and Buddy, so they accept the drinks and whatever food they’ll send to the table later. Maisy and Buddy excuse themselves, and, wishing not to go back to James’ subject, Elle restarts the conversation.

“So, I’m crazy about this TV show,” she tells her sisters. Luke rolls his eyes, “Not this again.”

“Dad’s not a great fan of Suits,” Elle laughs.

“He’s not a big fan of TV shows,” April says.

“Or movies,” Lorelai adds. “Although he came a long way since we started dating.”

“Either way, I’m obsessed,” Elle continues.

“So am I, obsessed to find out when Harvey and Donna will finally get together,” Lorelai says.

“Mom is going insane,” Elle giggles. “She keeps asking, ‘why won’t you admit you love him/her for once’. Which is not fair, they’ve both said ‘I love you’ to each other.”

“Yeah, and they left each other right after saying it,” Lorelai says. “It’s frustrating.”

“Your Mom and sister are driving me insane, way more than the show,” Luke replies.

“Well, I just don’t get why they won’t just admit they have feelings for each other and get together once and for all,” Lorelai speaks.

“Isn’t that ironic,” Rory giggles.

“What do you mean?” April asks.

“Now they know how the whole town felt about them,” Rory smiles.

“What?” Luke asks, outraged.

“Oh, come on. Both of you wouldn’t admit you had feelings for each other for years. That was frustrating.”

“Oh, no!” Lorelai protests. “Luke is the one who pined for me for years.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You did. You carried my horoscope with you for eight years. You still carry it with you.”

“I just never clean my wallet,” Luke answers. Lorelai scoffs. “I’m your Ava Gardner.”

“Mommy, I’m thirsty,” Charlie complains, and as if she’s heard it, Lori arrives with the drinks. She pours all the glasses, and April tries to help Charlie drink his club soda, but he shakes his head. “’Tost,’” he asks, and just after they all toast, the little boy drinks his soda and goes back to his draw. 

“Horoscope?” April asks, resuming the conversation as she puts her glass on the table.

“I can’t believe they haven’t told you that story,” Elle says. “Even I know all about how, when Mom met Dad, she was on a coffee frenzy – what else is new. Anyhow, Dad’s place was packed, Mom was bugging him asking for coffee, he got irritated, she wouldn’t stop… after a while, she asked for his birthday, he eventually told her – you know Mom, she just wouldn’t let it go. She wrote down under his horoscope, “you’ll meet an annoying woman today, give her coffee, she’ll go away.” The rest is history, and here we all are today.”

“So, you see, your dad pined for me from that day until we finally got together,” Lorelai tells her stepdaughter. “Eight years later.”

“I wasn’t pinning,” Luke objects.

“Oh, but you did pine for Mom,” Rory says. “She almost married my English teacher, and Luke was a mess at the time,” Rory tells April and Elle. “When Mom went to tell Luke she was engaged, literally the whole town was there to watch. I think Kirk passed out because he was smashed against the diner’s windows.”

“You are talking about how I got when Lorelai was about to marry that guy, but you’re forgetting how she got when I married Nicole,” Luke tells them, a smile on his lips as he remembers every conversation they had back then. “She got so mad at me that she left without having coffee.”

“I didn’t leave because you were married, you had moved away and hadn’t told me about it,” Lorelai corrects him. “After proposing, getting married and divorcing, all in one trip.”

“Yeah, but you were the one who got mad at me because of all of that.”

“Wait,” Elle asks. “If Dad was getting a divorce, how come he moved away?”

“He got back together with her after a while. Then he moved away, to another county.”

“Then your mom freaked out.”

“I didn’t freak out. And, for the record, you didn’t move out, you just told me you had moved, but all of your stuff was still on the apartment above the diner.”

“You were mad at me the same way,” Luke laughs. “And then you told me you didn’t want me to move. I asked you why.”

“I remember,” Lorelai says quietly, a faint smile on her lips.

“What did you say, Mom?”

“Nothing, Reverend Skinner walked in on us, breaking the church bells,” she laughs.

“So, you see, your mom already had feelings for me, she just wouldn’t admit it.”

Lorelai opens her mouth to answer, but it’s interrupted by Charlie, who is calling, “Grandma, Grandma!”

Everyone at the table looks at him. He proudly shows her his draw, and Lorelai smiles, unsure of what the bunch of doodles is supposed to be.

“What did you draw, honey?” Elle asks softly to her nephew, her hand-stretched to touch the paper.

“That’s Grandma,” he points to a blot; “Grandpa, Auntie Elle, Auntie April, Mom, Dad and me.”

“It’s beautiful, sweet,” Rory tells him. Charlie yaws and April asks him, “Hey baby, why don’t you lie down here?” She holds him in her arms and sees his eyelids fluting.

“He’ll sleep in no time,” she tells Rory and smiles.

“Wouldn’t people tell you things? About how you were both being idiots for not being together?” Elle asks.

Lorelai and Luke say at the same time, “No,” but Rory raises an eyebrow, and both of them look at each other.

“Okay, Sookie might have told me one thing. Or two.”

“Yeah? Like what?” Luke wonders, because now that he is thinking about it, he realizes they never really talked about that.

“She told me I was jealous of Rachel,” Lorelai admits. “Before Rachel arrived in the town, when you gave away her sweatshirt. I kept asking Sookie about her, so she finally asked me if I pictured myself with you and told me I was jealous of Rachel, which was crazy because I hadn’t even met her back then.”

“Who’s Rachel?” April asks.

“An old girlfriend,” Luke answers. “So, you were jealous of Rachel?” he smirks.

“Of course not,” Lorelai rolls her eyes, but she is grinning. “Okay, your turn.”

“Rachel actually was the first person to tell me something,” Luke confesses. “When she left the last time, she said my heart wasn’t in it, because of your mom.”

They both smile at each other.

“And let’s not forget about Grandma…” Rory says.

“Grandma?” Elle asks, confused.

“Oh, she insinuated lots of things over the years,” Rory says. “She even told Luke he and mom were both idiots, and that was like the second time she had met him.”

“How do you know that?” Luke asks.

“She told me once,” Rory says. “We were talking about how things turned out, and she told me that she always knew that you both had a thing for each other. She first told mom that on my 16th birthday. And there was this one time we went to help Luke with the diner, and when Grandma found Mom at the balcony of the diner, she told her she was at the reception hall of their wedding.”

“Well, she got right the fiancé, but was wrong about the place,” Lorelai laughs.

“You’re real-life Donna and Harvey,” Elle says.

They all laugh, “I wish I had seen all of that,” Elle says.

“Oh, team Lorelai and Luke would appreciate you," Rory says, looking to April, who nods with a smile.

"Not that team Lorelai and Luke didn't have enough members, though," April smirks.

"The fact is everyone besides them knew it would happen someday.”

“You too?!” Elle wonders.

“Yeah, I mean... I never said that, but I was kinda hoping it would someday,” Rory says while looking at Luke, who gives her a very soft smile. Lorelai is looking at them, full of love.

“I didn't watch as much as Rory,” Lorelai looks at April, excited to know what she used to think, they never talked about it. "But I really liked Lorelai, she saved my 13th birthday, she was kind of my hero."

"That crap birthday party," Lorelai mocks Luke, but she clearly is emotional to hear that she had that impact on April's life when she was younger. Things were just too difficult at the beginning for them. "I missed the 14th, but I think we did great on all the others, right, hon?!" Lorelai squeezes April's hand gently, and she nods.

"You were legendary, Lorelai."

“But April was here for her birthdays?” Elle asked.

“No, we’d do an after-birthday party when she came for summer,” Lorelai answers.

"You really outdid yourself on her 21st, Mom," Rory chuckles as she remembers the party.

"That one was a record," Lorelai says very proudly. "The cops stopped the party three times," Luke tells them as he shakes his head, thinking about the memory. "You," he points to Elle, "were so little... You kept asking if we were going to be arrested," they all laugh.

"So we told you it was just a joke," Rory continues the story.

"But you wouldn't believe it," it's April's turn. "So, we called Lorelai, and she said to you that cops were a sign of a good party. I thought Dad was gonna have a heart attack or something."

Maisy approaches the table right at this moment, Buddy following her, they both looking at Luke's family together laughing. She glances at her husband, and he nods, mimicking her proud expression.

As they put the plates on the table, she says, "You two build such a beautiful family."

Luke and Lorelai look at each other and to their girls and grandson, then back at each other as if they are realizing just now how much they’ve been through. She takes his hand and he squeezes hers, they are stuck in their own world.

"That horoscope really brought me luck," Luke replies finally, looking to his wife.

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is a collab with Maria. We'd like to say thanks to our friends Debbie and Mandy for being our beta readers and for always supporting us.  
> Maria, I want to say thank you for embarking into this with me. It's been a pleasure to create a Gilmore-Danes family with you and all the stories that are following them.


End file.
